Failed Vetting due to criminal record help

catt20

So basically I have applied to work at prison and passed everything apart from vetting, I received my feed back yesterday which stated I failed due to having criminal offence/offences on the national police data base, when filling out vetting I did put no as I didn’t think anything was going to show up nor did I think I had a criminal record as I was a juvenile (under 18) I can’t really remember what even happened (I’m over the age of 30 now) so my questions are has anyone else been in a similar situation? Is it worth appealing against there decision? Any help or advise would be much appreciated also I have emailed my local police station and asked them to send me a copy of what’s on the national police database in my name as I feel it’s irrelevant to my life anymore and stopping me from getting jobs, I’m going to try and get them to delete it.

TonyMMM

What was it - a conviction at court, a caution ?

It may be that the offence itself wouldn't be a problem, but putting "no" to the question on the vetting form would be a much bigger issue.

74jax

catt20 said:

So basically I have applied to work at prison and passed everything apart from vetting, I received my feed back yesterday which stated I failed due to having criminal offence/offences on the national police data base, when filling out vetting I did put no as I didn’t think anything was going to show up nor did I think I had a criminal record as I was a juvenile (under 18) I can’t really remember what even happened (I’m over the age of 30 now) so my questions are has anyone else been in a similar situation? Is it worth appealing against there decision? Any help or advise would be much appreciated also I have emailed my local police station and asked them to send me a copy of what’s on the national police database in my name as I feel it’s irrelevant to my life anymore and stopping me from getting jobs, I’m going to try and get them to delete it.

I think it will be because you put no. Had you put yes, your answer would match, they'd check it out and dismiss it - obviously depending what it is.

You say you feel it's irrelevant, however it caused an issue at the time. And is doing so now. Lying about it happening is not the way to go. 

catt20

TonyMMM said:

What was it - a conviction at court, a caution ?

It may be that the offence itself wouldn't be a problem, but putting "no" to the question on the vetting form would be a much bigger issue.

I think it was a warning it wasn’t anything serious from what I can remember, I genuinely didn’t think anything would show up on my name with it being so long ago 

k3lvc

I'm sure some with more expertise will be along soon but my recollection was that any job requiring a CRB check (possibly an enhanced CRB check for prison contact etc) will require all previous convictions to be declared (i.e. nothing becomes 'spent')

Pleading lack of memory that you don't recall what you were convicted for really isn't the way to go, nor will be wasting time/energy trying to get it removed

Maybe time to acknowledge that whatever it was is serious enough to impact on your future life choices and that jobs in certain sectors our out of scope

Brie

Also check that they were looking at the correct individual.  OH failed a vetting due to someone else with the same 4 names and birthdate having done some serious crimes.  There was no comeback on this despite the fact that the crimes happened when he was living overseas.  As I recall the response to his surprised query was "well you would say that."

catt20

@74jax I wouldn’t go as far as saying I was lying about it, I just didn’t know that my criminal record existed, with it being so long ago I barely remember what I did when I was a juvenile.

Jude57

I'm no expert on vetting but hopefully others will be along who can give you some definite answers. I do, though, think you're not going to be able to get the result you want. I don't think you'll like what I have to say next but I hope you will see that I am trying to help you.

First, you lied, by omission, in not disclosing your conviction on your application form. That calls your honesty into question because Prison Officers have, quite rightly, high standards expected of them. Some offences are considered 'spent' after a period of time but there are some jobs for which you MUST declare any and all convictions, whether spent or not. Prison Officer is one of those jobs. The fact you were under 18 is neither here nor there. On the form you filled in, or in the accompanying guidance, there will have been information on what to disclose. You ignored or didn't read or didn't understand that. You could have asked for guidance if you weren't sure. I doubt there's any point appealing.

You're certainly entitled to see at least some of what is recorded about you on the PNC. If there's anything affecting other people or ongoing investigations you won't be able to see that information. 

Unless there's an error in what is recorded on the PNC, such as, wrong date of birth, you cannot have it erased. It's essential that criminal records are held, even for spent convictions, because that information could be the one thing that helps a future investigation. It's very carefully controlled and other than in very specific circumstances, not available to anyone outside law enforcement. Even then, every time a record is accessed the person accessing it is logged and I know there are random audits to check that no one is accessing information unlawfully. The fact you feel your criminal record is irrelevant is immaterial. There are sound reasons for keeping records such as these and what you feel isn't more important than those reasons.

I'd be asking the Prison Service whether you can re-apply after a time. At least then you'll know if that career is totally off the cards.

As to what to do going forward, be honest and declare your convictions if asked unless specifically told you don't need to IF your conviction is spent. Then you can also explain that you are a different person now, that you have learned from the experience (if you have) and that you very much regret your previous behaviour (if you do). Unless your conviction is for a serious or violent offence, employers will appreciate your honesty.

macman

If it was a criminal offence then you would have appeared in a court, presumably a juvenile court?
Are you really saying that an experience like that has completely escaped your memory, even 12+ years later?
I don't think the police will be able to disclose what they have on file for you based purely on an email, because they have no idea who you are: You'd have to undergo an ID check at the very least to obtain such data.

TELLIT01

catt20 said:

@74jax I wouldn’t go as far as saying I was lying about it, I just didn’t know that my criminal record existed, with it being so long ago I barely remember what I did when I was a juvenile.

Sorry, but you clearly did know it existed as you said in the original post "I did put no as I didn’t think anything was going to show up".  Assuming the question stated 'any conviction', it was not declaring it rather than the offence itself which caused the problem.

pinkshoes

catt20 said:

@74jax I wouldn’t go as far as saying I was lying about it, I just didn’t know that my criminal record existed, with it being so long ago I barely remember what I did when I was a juvenile.

Nevertheless... you might not remember what it was for (really?!?!?) but you clearly remember it so it would have been wise to say yes to the question.

The rejection will no doubt be for dishonesty rather than the incident itself. They CANNOT have dishonesty people working in the prison service. You need to be trustworthy and honest and failed at the first hurdle.